Pure
by Kirsti-Lee
Summary: Written for the 'Name Meaning' Challenge on HPFC. Lily means 'Pure, Flower'. Who will help her to discover who she really is, regardless of names or labels?


The child screamed lustily, and Harry smiled. He and Ginny looked down at their daughter, who was just a screaming red blob to her older brothers. Ginny smiled up at him, her long red hair slick with sweat. The birth had been a hard one, much harder than those of her two brothers.

"What did you want to call her, Harry?" she asked with a contented sigh.

"How's Luna, for the middle name? I'm sure Luna would love her god daughter to have her name," Harry suggested almost shyly.

"Perfect. And her first name?" Ginny leant back on her plump pillow.

Harry hesitated.

"I thought maybe Lily, you know, after my mother. But if you want to call her after your mum…" he said.

"No that's perfect. Mum's always hated her name; she wouldn't want to give it to her grand daughter. Lily Luna Potter. Sweet, pure Lily,"

She gently stroked back the small tufts of hair on her daughter's head.

"Our beautiful little flower," Harry agreed.

* * *

"Lily! Have you cleaned your room yet?" Ginny called, broom in hand. "Lily?"

She poked her head around the door, eyebrows furrowed. The floor was a mess; sweet wrappers and books intermingled freely with Quidditch cards and jars containing butterflies and insects.

"That girl…" she muttered, moving to open the window and air out the room. In the distance, she could see three figures on broomsticks

Marching out on the grounds, Ginny marveled at how similar they were to the Burrow. When she and Harry decided to move into their own home, she had planted the same kinds of tress in a muddled replica of her former home. Harry had laughed; he loved the Burrow just as much as she did.

"Lily Luna Potter, get down here this instant!" she called, wincing when she realized she sounded exactly like her own mother.

A girl with claret-colored hair landed her old broomstick, followed by her two older brothers. She looked up sulkily at her mother, who noted with exasperation the new tear in her jeans, the smear of dirt on her cheek, and the one ribbon trailing dejectedly from her hair. Where its partner had gone was a mystery. Lily was always losing things, or breaking them.

"Oh you're in trouble now, Lils!" James said with a laugh.

"I asked you to clean your room. It's a pig sty," Ginny said determinedly, ignoring the twinkle in her sons' eyes.

Lily scrunched up her nose.

"But Mum, the boys were playing Quidditch…" she whined.

"And their rooms are tidy. Back to the house, missy, and not another word," Ginny commanded, trying to ignore the giggling that resulted from her stern tone. While she and Harry had never really spoilt the children, they had never been hard on them either.

"It's because I'm a girl," Lily muttered.

Ginny smiled, following her errant daughter through the garden, waving at the staring gnomes as she did so.

* * *

"But Mum, I don't _want _to go shopping," Lily said obstinately. She had pouted and firmly rejected every dress her mother had chosen.

"But dear, you'll be going to Hogwarts next week. Don't you want some pretty dresses to wear on weekends?" Ginny persisted. While she herself had never been a 'girly girl', she could not understand her daughter's entirely tomboyish ways.

"No, I'll probably just wear jeans," Lily insisted.

Ginny sighed.

"Well fine then. But at the very least choose some _new _jeans. I always hated having the wear patched clothing, but we simply could not afford new clothes…"

Lily let her mother ramble on; she had spent her whole life being lectured about the importance of money, or lack thereof. The Potters were one of the wealthiest wizarding families, but both her parents knew what it meant not to have money for the necessities.

"Fine," Lily rolled her eyes. It was not worth the argument.

* * *

The train station was as full as ever, and finally Lily was old enough to go to Hogwarts. Her tabby tomcat, Ivan, was curled up on her trunk. Her trunk was full of the requested spell books, potions ingredients and of course, her dreaded school uniform. She had been aghast to realize female Hogwarts students were required to wear a skirt under their robes, and scowled even then at the thought of it. But nothing could mar the excitement building around her. Both her brothers had attended Hogwarts for two and three years, and were polished students. Cries of greeting reached them as soon as the crossed the barrier, but Lily hung back, afraid for a reason she could not fathom.

"Hi Lily," Hugo smiled nervously at her. "All ready then?"

"Yeah," she smiled back.

She looked up at her parents then, who were smiling at her with what she assumed was pride.

"Well, bye then," she said, trying to be indifferent.

Her father clapped her on the shoulder and her mother simply touched her hand once. She had long ago trained them not to publicly display affection.

"Goodbye," They said in unison, although Harry lifted her trunk onto the train for her.

"I'll miss you," she said, but no one heard.

* * *

The hat seemed to leer at her from its vantage point. She resisted the urge to scowl at it; the rest of the hall was already abuzz at the latest Potter addition to the castle, it would not improve her outlook at be seen pulling faces.

Finally her name was called, and she strode determinedly forward amid the whispers.

'That scrawny girl's a Potter?' 'Look at that red hair!' 'Bet she's a Gryffindor, like her brothers,'

The last was said as the hat slipped over her head.

'_Ah, Lily Potter eh? Finally come to Hogwarts. You think you're pretty brave, don't you_?'

'_Yes,' _She answered defiantly, daring the hat to contradict her.

'_Bravery comes in all forms. You're brainy, and loyal, but you're cunning too. Always worming your way our of things you don't want to do, aren't you_?'

'_Yes,' _She answered again, all of a sudden questioning herself.

'_What house would you like to be in?' _the hat said suddenly.

"_Why?' _She said suspiciously.

'_Because you will never let anyone make your choices for you. Remember, don't let other people's expectations rule your life, but don't try and do the opposite just to disappoint them either,'_

She blinked, trying to see the sense in those words.

'_I choose…" _She faltered. '_Gryffindor I suppose,'_

The hat yelled out the decision, and Lily wondered why she suddenly felt so terrible.

* * *

A few weeks later, Lily wandered away from her year mates for a walk by the lake. She had easily fallen into the pattern of school life, and easily made friends. Hugo of course, was a constant companion, but he had to spend some time with the 'guys'.

She walked along the lake edge, watching the squid wave it's tentacles in the air.

"You're that Potter girl, aren't you?" a bored voice asked.

She looked up, startled. A blonde haired boy with a Slytherin crest was watching her with a bored expression.

"I suppose you're Malfoy?" the other Gryffindors had told her of his family reputation, but also how he was quiet, unassuming and never seemed to cause trouble like some of the other Slytherins.

"Scorpius. May I presume your name is Lily?" he said, unfolding his arms.

"Yes," she said abruptly. "I really better go," she said starting forward.

"Why do you wear your hair like that?" he asked suddenly, stopping her in her place.

Unconsciously her hand flew to her short locks; she had demanded a haircut before she started school.

"I don't think you're in a position to make personal remarks," she replied gruffly.

"The other girls talk about you, you know. You don't brush your hair, or wear dresses, and you bite your nails," he said with a sincere smile.

"So what? What does any of those things matter?" she bristled.

"They don't, I suppose. But to me, who has always had a bad reputation follow me where ever I went, I would be happy to have a name and reputation like yours," he shrugged.

"What do you mean?" she asked.

"You're named for Lily Potter, or Lily Evans as she once was called. She sacrificed herself for your father, she was pure," He began to walk away, but stopped when she spoke again.

"I'm NOT pure. I make mistakes. I'm not some flower, to be dressed up, to be pretty and silent and smell good. None of those things change who I am, on the inside. This is me, who I've chosen to become. I won't…" she paused, tears in her eyes, when she remembered the words of the hat a few weeks earlier. "I won't let anyone make my choices for me,"

He looked at her strangely, and for a brief moment she saw a shadow of emotion cross his face.

"I'm glad. Don't change who you are, because it's what others expect. I wish I had the courage to be myself, like you do. Some people show off their beauty because they want the world to see it. Others try to hide their beauty because they want the world to see something else."

And this time he walked away, leaving the confused girl behind him. She looked down at her short nails, and moved to look into the lake's surface. Her messy hair (unbrushed as Scorpius said) and freckled visage swam into view.

'_Myself. Be myself,'_ she thought. And that's all she could be.

* * *

A/N- OK, so this was written for the 'Name Meaning' Challenge on HPFC, and I obviously choose Lily Potter II. Lily means "Pure, Flower". At first I thought it might be fun to have her the opposite of those things, and it was an easy picture to come up with. While writing about her, I felt like I was writing myself at that age. The more my mother forced me into girly things, the more time I spent playing dinosaurs in the dirt XD. Now, Scorpius' words "Some people show off their beauty because they want the world to see it. Others try to hide their beauty because they want the world to see something else." I was up to writing his little speech, stuck for words, and Kostas from 'The Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants" says those words (I often listen to movies when I write, it makes words and ideas flow, I think) And Scorpius in this story is the same Scorpius I wrote in "I am Scorpius Malfoy". I wasn't planning on him appearing, but he walked in anyway. As always, please read and review, this little challenges are sparking my drive to write more and more.


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